


Misfits

by LetoaSai



Series: Secrets [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Abominations make the best friends, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Do they even know it's a date?, F/M, First Date, Mocha, Over protective Vanitas, Sequel, art kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23390674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: Vanitas was still learning to live in the light. Staying in Radiant Garden had been his choice, but it helped that there was someone around that understood him.
Relationships: Naminé/Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Secrets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593604
Comments: 32
Kudos: 109





	Misfits

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any Final Fantasy. 
> 
> Part 3 of Secrets.  
> A peek into Vanitas' life post main story line.

Walking around Radiant Garden was still...strange. No one was screaming and running and that just wasn’t the norm for him. 

It had been two months since they’d trapped Kefka in a book and all things considered, normalcy had returned. Vanitas had opted to stay in Radiant Garden for a time. It was safe enough and though he wouldn’t admit it, he liked being around Cloud. It was a constant reminder that darkness didn’t make him a monster. 

Coming off as normal to an entire city was...different. Most assumed he was a new member of the Restoration Committee and treated him accordingly. Today he was in a different hoodie he’d stolen from Sora’s stash. This one black with neon green trim and had Mocha resting in the hood. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need for a change today but he supposed he didn’t need a reason. 

“This way.” Naminé smiled, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him down a street. 

He grunted in response and let her lead him. She’d asked that morning if he wanted to tag along while she grabbed more art supplies. He had no reason not to, so…? 

“What are you getting?” he asked out of curiosity. She was still working on the piles and piles of memories she had stored in her head. Ventus’ memories had been returned a month prior which had had awful counter effects on him too. Effects he was still getting over with wisps of memories that were sorta his and sorta not. He and Ventus were both working out their trauma's now. 

Tifa had only gotten hers returned last week with much less drama. 

As of now Naminé was taking a break before she started her next memory transplate. Tidus. He and Yuna would be returning from the Land of Combinations in a few weeks for her to connect the memories she had for him to his memory chains. 

“Paint supplies.” 

“Paint?” Vanitas frowned. “Didn’t know you painted." 

“I don’t!” She beamed. “That’s what makes it so exciting. I like my crayons and colored pencils. I’ve played with chalks and charcoals too. I thought i’d give painting a try.” 

“Hm…” Vanitas grunted. “I see. I guess?” He often sat next to Naminé while she sketched and it was an oddly enjoyable pastime. He had to assume she liked doing it for a similar reason. 

“What will you paint?” 

“I dunno,” she said, pulling him into the shop with her. “Maybe Mocha?”

Vanitas grunted his affirmative but his jaw went slack at the store. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it wasn't rows and rows of crafts. There was a whole wall of different sized paint brushes. Papers, paints, inks. There were things for bookbinding and sculpting. Wood carving and stained glass. There was canvas and framing and he scarcely knew where to look. 

It never occurred to him that people _made_ things. Sculptures and the like. Stained glasses windows, someone made those... 

Naminé laughed softly and patted his arm. “Take a look around.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Vanitas muttered, heading down the first aisle. There were chisels of various sizes and a shelf of markers. He wondered if Naminé had ever tried markers. 

There were all kinds of different papers and stickers. There was a row of nothing but yarn. Who needed that much yarn? It was fascinating. 

No wonder Naminé liked art so much. There were so many choices. He found dyes and tiny trees that didn’t make sense to him. 

“What are these for?” he asked, pointing when Naminé drifted past him with a hand basket full of paint tubes. 

“Diorama’s.” She laughed. “It’s like a little miniature scene. There are some over here.” She rounded the corner and pointed to a few displays. 

One was a little forest scene with rocks and trees and a little river and one was a tiny duplicate of Radiant Garden’s town square. 

“Why?” he asked but couldn’t stop looking at them. 

“I dunno. Someone found doing it relaxing.” she guessed. “Takes a steady hand.” 

“Hm.” He agreed. There was so much detail… He finally tore his eyes away to look at her. “Still finding what you need?” 

“Yeah, i picked out some colors and some brushes. I’m moving on to canvas.” 

He looked curious. “You can’t use regular paper?” 

“Well i could but i’ve never used canvas before and i thought it would be a nice experiment.” 

He couldn’t argue that. “Cool.” 

He caught a few people glancing at him and it took a good minute for him to realize they weren’t looking at him, but Mocha in his hood. The tiny creature had rolled over in his hood and went back to sleep. 

Ah well, at least he wasn’t attacking. They shouldn’t panic. 

“Hi there!” A smiling woman wearing black lipstick appeared. The apron covered in pins must have meant she worked there. “Finding everything okay?” 

“Yeah.” Vanitas said slowly, trying to channel just a little bit of Sora. He could talk to a person… This shouldn’t be hard. “Fine. My friend is getting paint…” 

“Oh good. Let me know if you need help with anything.” She said. “And if you are interested we offer all kinds of workshops throughout the month.” 

Vanitas blinked. “Workshops?” 

“Art classes.” She said, grabbing a piece of paper to hand to him. 

Sculpture courses. Clay and Rock. 

Stained glass courses. 

Glass blowing.

Metal work. 

There were classes for this kind of thing? 

“How often is the glass blowing?” He asked, looking at the paper. 

The woman smiled, likely knowing she’d caught someone wanting to sign up. “Beginners classes are a three hour block every other weekend for two months.” she paused when she saw Naminé walking up behind him. “We offer couples classes too.” 

Vantias glanced back when Naminé squeaked. Would that be okay? Sora would get a kick out of him being on a team. He could be on a team with Naminé, that sounded fine. 

“Want to take a glass blowing class?” He asked, pointing to the glass ornaments advertised. He suddenly wanted to make something that wasn’t based in darkness. The delicate looking trinkets looked like fun. He didn’t know what he’d do with it but...did that matter? Sora would probably say it didn’t.

Naminé’s smile grew warm. “Yeah! Looks like fun! I’ve never done anything like that either.” 

Vanitas grunted. “You’ll probably be fine. You’re artistic.” 

She preened, nodding excitedly and the sales girl took down their name and a deposit both put down for the class. It was such a regular person thing to do. Something he’d picked out himself. Xehanort never would have allowed this. 

There was some kind of feeling in his chest about it he just couldn’t identify. He’d have to ask Sora...Maybe Cloud. He didn’t know enough about feelings-especially positive feelings-to know which one this was. They left the shop with their classes booked and Naminé’s bag hanging from her fingers. 

“There’s a bookshop two doors down. Want to take a look?” she asked, a knowing smile in place. Reading hadn’t been high up on his past luxuries. He _could_ read, probably because Ventus could but he hadn’t had the opportunity himself. He’d read signs and orders on slips of papers Xehanort handed over to him but he never had much of an opportunity to sit with a book. 

Ventus’ access to books in the Land of Departure had just been one more jealous point. One more thing he couldn’t have. 

Since staying at Merlins he’d found reading as enjoyable as he always imagined it to be. 

“Yeah, okay.” 

They made the short walk over to the bookstore Radiant Pages and Vanitas was filled with a sense of alarm at the shelves and shelves of books. Sora once explained to him that what he was feeling in instances like this was ‘wonder’ not alarm but he couldn’t tell the difference. 

There was a smell to books he liked. What a stupid thing to notice. 

“Is there anything in particular you like?” Naminé asked quietly. 

“I don’t..know.” Vanitas muttered, wandering around “I don’t really know what the options are.” He wasn’t stupid, he knew there were all kinds of genres. He just didn’t know which ones he’d like. 

“That’s okay.” Naminé nudged his arm. “Go take a look.” 

He felt kind of like a kid wandering around somewhere fancy he wasn’t allowed to be. The only thing that kept him from walking right back out of the store was Naminé. She was touching books and picking them up to flip through. She was acting like she belonged here and if he came in with her...it must have been okay. 

Vanitas didn’t know where to start. There were likely thousands of books in the shop but he liked the old looking ones. The leather looking ones. They looked important and when he picked one up he got the distinct feeling he was doing something he shouldn’t. They were heavy and...who could write so many words?

He found a section labeled classics and went out reading titles. Was he less than an abomination if he could read? He sat on the floor with a book on his lap and got caught up in the pages. 

After a while, Naminé dropped down beside him, shoulder to shoulder. She had two books with her, one on painting techniques and the other just a book of paintings. It was comfortable, and he didn’t think he really knew how to be comfortable.

Even Naminé resting her head on his shoulder didn’t give him much of a clue. It’s just what it was. Sora did that. It was a quiet shop and no one seemed to mind the two of them curled up against the bookshelf. 

This wasn’t something Vanitas had ever done before and he felt that familiar ache in his chest when he knew he’d missed out on something. Being able to do it now made the difference though. 

There was some small amount of pride in the fact that he was out in the light instead of drifting off in a pocket of darkness, attempting to sleep through his life. The differences between the worlds of light and dark were horribly unbalanced. Unfair. 

This was good? He lost sense of time and only knew he was a third of the way through his book when he heard Naminé’s stomach growl. 

“We can go…” he commented. He didn’t really want to. “Find food maybe?” Aerith usually had lunch ready. Or Cloud, or Merlin, or Tifa. They liked feeding him for some reason. 

Naminé lifted her head off his shoulder and stretched after closing her own book. “Yeah, that sounds nice.” 

He watched her yawn and winced internally. “We didn’t have to stay so long...” 

Her smile brightened. “Oh no, it was just peaceful.” They climbed to their feet and she snatched the book out of his hands before he could slide it back onto the shelf. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, following along behind her. 

“Buying our books.” She said, wandering all the way up to the counter with his book and hers. 

He was surprised, another new stupid mix of feelings. “You don’t have to. Don’t need it.” 

“You were enjoying it.” she said instead. “And you have your own room at Merlin's too. It’s about time you start filling it with things you like.” 

“I.. okay?” What did he say to that? Was there only one answer? 

“Good.” She smiled, making small talk with the clerk before paying. She didn’t look surprised when he took the bag to carry. She had her art bag to carry anyway.

Vanitas checked the time and was almost surprised at how late in the day it was getting. Time moved faster when he had something to do or someone to do it with. 

“This way,” Naminé said, tugging on his sleeve again and leading him down another busy street. They passed Yuffie and Nanaki out on patrol but Vanitas barely gave them a glance once he realized they were on the wrong street. 

“Merlin’s is this way though.” 

Naminé hummed. “Right, but we’re not going there yet.”

“Oh?” 

He didn’t like being told what to do. Xehanort had instilled in him a loathing for being ordered around. Had instilled a crippling fear in him too. It was part of why he liked Cloud so much. Cloud didn’t throw around classic parental demands with a ‘because i said so,’ attached. Cloud asked or requested. Cloud always gave him the option to stay no. 

It was how he’d known rather quickly that Cloud had been abused at some point too. Someone had messed with his head too and he understood how Vanitas felt. Leon had had so much practice speaking around Cloud that he also knew how to put Vanitas at ease. 

That thought in mind, it felt very different allowing Naminé to drag him around. She was sharing her likes with him. 

It wasn’t so different from Sora dragging him around but… it was? He liked Sora but he could be annoying and chatty. There was always a tiny bit of surprise still there when he _did_ end up having a great time out with Sora. 

With Naminé it was just.. What it was? She was nice and didn’t judge. She was an abomination like him but he had trouble associating the word with her. It seemed to him that she was a lot like Sora. Never appreciated for all the things she’d done to help. 

There were things that couldn’t have been accomplished without her and some people just couldn’t see that.

Her grasp slid from his sleeve to his hand and she pulled him into a little bistro only moderately crowded. There were plenty of empty tables and she picked one by the windows. 

“Um…” He looked around, feeling Mocha roll around in his hood to have a look around now that he sensed more people nearby. 

“Eating out is nice sometimes.” Naminé smiled. “Tifa and Yuffie bring me here sometimes. Hello.” She greeted the waiter immediately and took the menu’s. 

Vanitas tensed and let her do the talking. He knew how this worked but he’d never been inside one before. Well not one like this. He’d had pie with Sora and knew Xehanort fancied these kinds of places but it felt different. No threats, broad daylight, and sitting across from Naminé like it was a normal thing for him to do. 

She handed him his menu when the waiter wandered off and he felt like a child who didn’t want to order for themself. This was stupid and not like him.

Other people did stuff like this, not him. 

“You don’t have to feel so out of place.” Naminé said knowingly, watching him closely. “It’s a public place and we’re allowed to be here.” 

“Yeah. Yeah i know.” he muttered. 

There was a loaf of bread on the table and he watched with curiosity as Naminé cut a slice, buttered it and offered it to Mocha who was poking his head out. 

“Things gonna be covered in crumbs.” Vanitas muttered, a faint smile stretching at his lips as Mocha snatched it with a happy croon and curled back up on the hood to eat.

Naminé laughed as if that were her goal all along. “He deserves a nice lunch too.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Vanitas mumbled, actually looking over the menu. Normal people did this. He might not have had much of a desire to be normal but that didn’t mean he couldn’t also do what normal people did. 

They ordered their food, and the only thing odd about it was the way the waiter eyed Vanitas’ hood. They talked a little about the books they’d just bought and any possible travel plans in the future. Riku and Sora had gone back to Destiny Island for a little while and Cloud was planning to take Leon there too for a week or so. He’d been invited, but he got the distinct impression he should leave them alone and let them have a little time together. 

It hadn’t occurred to him that Naminé couldn’t travel like he could and offering to teach her to use the dark corridors popped out before he could think about it. Why shouldn’t she be able to travel as easy as the rest of them? 

They’d probably spend the weekend practicing. 

“We should do this again.” Naminé smiled a little, face pink. “It’s been nice today.” 

“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Vanitas said. He liked being alone, but being with other people was nice too as long as he got to pick the people. 

They ate, and the only mishap was Mocha jumping onto the table to attempt to eat off Vanitas’ plate. He’d grabbed his unversed by the scruff of its neck and shoved him back into his hood. 

Naminé in typical soft hearted fashion started feeding him pieces of bread again. Honestly...he didn’t need to eat. He was just being spoiled…

“You mind if i order dessert?” Naminé asked. 

“If you want?” He blinked. Wasn’t dessert just ice cream. It was all the others ate. Roxas handing him a seasalt icecream was one of the first times he’d felt included in a group. The blond must have hoarded the damn things. 

It had been nice to be seen, and the ice cream was okay, but he couldn’t imagine eating them as often as Roxas and his friends did.

“Great.” She smiled, and waved to their waiter for him to come back so she could order. Vanitas let her. Anything that made her happy. She deserved that after as much as she’d been stepped on while just trying to do the right thing. 

Ten minutes later a huge plate arrived holding two extremely large pieces of chocolate cake and two scoops of ice cream. It looked like it could have been for four people and not just two. She gave him a spoon and took no time tasting it herself. 

“I take it you’ve had this before.” he chuckled, taking a bite. It was delicious and he..could eat this often. 

“Uh huh. Tifa always orders it. It’s really good.” She snagged a second bite and held it up to Mocha who licked the spoon clean. “Like it?” she asked. 

“Mhmm.” Vanitas said as he ate. He did like chocolate. “It’s really good.” 

Naminé looked thrilled and he couldn’t quite figure out why. It was easy to assume she was sick of the sea salt ice creams too. 

They were still eating it when a man strode up to the table, middle aged Vanitas guessed. His hand flexed, ready to draw his weapon if he had to and Mocha was at attention, waiting to be given a command. There was plenty of space for him to maneuver and fight if he needed to. 

“I beg your pardon!” The man started, almost jovially. “I don’t mean to interrupt your meal but are the two of you Restoration Committee members?”

“Yes.” Naminé smiled happily before Vanitas could snidely ask what that had to do with anything. 

“Oh good! I do hate to impose but i was hoping you could pass a few papers on to Leon. That man is always working and i just haven’t been able to get a hold of him lately. I was heading to the committee house this afternoon but if you’re here…” 

He was already pulling papers out of his bag to leaf through.

“We don’t mind.” Naminé assured him. “There are so many projects and Leon does have his hands in most of them.” 

“And i do hate to be a bother.” The man nodded. 

Vanitas fought the urge to scowl. The citizens of Radiant Garden loved the Restoration Committee. They were well aware that they owed the progress of their city to Leon and the others. Dozens of them put their best foot forward and helped any way they could and others got in line to hand out their projects to someone else. Several liked to hand Leon their requests personally since he was so well known for getting things done. 

That had been happening a lot less lately with Cloud on his arm. Some people were just easily intimidated by the blond man. 

“We’ll hand it into the committee office for you.” Naminé agreed pleasantly but made no promises. Smart girl. 

“Thank you very much.” He said, passing the papers along. He attempted to hand them to Vanitas and figured out quickly that was a bad idea when he just raised a mocking brow. Mocha crawled out onto his shoulder and made a sound that wasn’t quite a growl but it wasn’t happy. 

He jerked back, pausing only when Naminé held out her hand. 

“Yes. Well.” He handed her the papers. “Sorry again for interrupting. Thank you.” He scurried away and Naminé started giggling. 

“You can be intimidating, can’t you?” 

“No idea what you mean.” Vanitas shrugged, shoving Mocha back into his hood before grabbing another bite of cake. 

“If you say so, don’t have to be all broody.” 

His lips twitched into a smile. “Whatever.”

She was laughing, the mirth in her eyes genuine while she waved down their waiter again for a box. There was no way they’d be able to eat all that cake on their own. 

“Going to test out your paints today?” He finally asked, pulling out munny for the food. 

“Yeah, i think i will. Maybe in Merlin’s garden.” She said. “Oh, you don’t.. Have to pay.” 

“You bought the books, i bought the food.” He said simply, grabbing the bags while they got up from the table. 

Her smile only grew but she’d been smiling a lot more lately. Not being stuck with Ansem all the time did wonders for her self esteem. She might have owed him her life given that Ansem and his students were the one that gave her a new body but a part of her would always remember her time with Diz which was less than hospitable. 

Scars like that didn’t go away overnight. 

“Still want to paint Mocha?” he asked once they’d made it outside. She’d linked her arm with his eye and he didn’t really know why she liked it but he didn’t mind it. 

“Yeah. Sounds like a fun first project.”

Vanitas grunted faintly and nodded for the Flood to make himself useful. Mocha climbed out from his hood again, across his shoulder and onto Naminé’s. 

“Go for it.” He shrugged. With the way she spoiled the little unversed he was likely to abandon him for her anyway. 

“Really?” She perked up all over again and pet Mocha’s head. “Good!” 

“Yeah, good. Whatever.” He shrugged but it was fine. She wanted to paint and he wanted...to read the rest of his book. He could do that while she was painting. 

When was the last time he wanted to do something besides wanting to be left alone? Feelings were weird. Getting to act on them was weirder.

He wondered if it was the same for her. If wandering the town after being locked up for so long was her ideal freedom. 

The pair returned to Merlin’s house, both in a good mood. They split up, Naminé to head back into the garden to set up her paints and Vanitas stopped in at the kitchen to put their dessert away. Did it go in the refrigerator? That’s where he was putting it so… They’d eaten the ice cream but there was still a lot of cake and… whatever. Fridge. He grabbed a marker to write Naminé’s name on the plastic container so no one else would eat it and was wondering how much sunlight they’d have outside before the sun started to set when Cloud walked past. He stopped when he saw Vanitas, welcoming him back in that quiet way of his. He held a kit Vanitas recognized, a container of supplies Cloud was taking to clean or mend his sword out of boredom. 

“How was your date?” 

Vanitas blinked at Cloud. “What?” 

Cloud raised a brow back at him. “With Naminé.” 

What was Cloud even talking about? He didn’t date. That was for normal people. “That’s not what that was.” 

Cloud’s look softened, the same why he did when talking to Sora or Ventus. “Are you sure, because i bet it was.” 

Vanitas frowned. He wasn’t...sure. “We just…” 

“It’s okay.” Cloud reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll both have plenty of time to figure things out. I’ll rephrase. You have a good time?” 

Vanitas nodded once and felt younger suddenly. He was still getting used to Cloud caring. “Yeah.” 

“Then that’s what matters.” Cloud shrugged, dropping his hand and the topic. “I’ll be on the roof if you need something” 

Vanitas nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll be… in the garden.” He wasn’t sure when he and Cloud started letting each other know where they’d be but it felt like a common courtesy. Cloud wanted to be around when any of his kids needed him. That didn’t seem like a bad thing. 

Cloud hummed in acknowledgement and headed off on his own. For the hundredth time Vanitas appreciated not being smothered. 

He wandered to the back of the house to the garden. His plans hadn’t changed. He could read while Naminé painted. 

Though maybe now he’d ask her if that was a date. He wanted to know if it was and if that was the case, if it had been any good. She’d tell him honestly. 

Regardless, he wanted to do it again soon.


End file.
